The chimney and hearth of a home at 808 High Ridge Road are seen left standing as crews demolish a home once owned by a Revolutionary War veteran that preservationists tried to save.
Photo: Contributed Photo

STAMFORD -- When Wesley Haynes saw the demolition notice on a 240-year-old house at 808 High Ridge Road, he was shocked, and immediately called the city to find out what had gone wrong.

In early September, Haynes had filed an objection to the house owner's plans to level the home and four others around it, on behalf of the Historic Neighborhood Preservation Program, a non-profit group of local preservationists. Under city law, the objection should have delayed the issuing of a demolition permit for six months to allow the parties involved time to determine whether the home should be saved or moved.

"He did call me back at the end of the day but by then the building had been knocked down," said Haynes, who is executive director of the preservation program.

The timber-frame house with a river rock chimney was built in 1770 by Andrew Dogherty, a Revolutionary War veteran who served in General David Waterbury's regiment, according to a genealogy of the area's Revolutionary War soldiers called "Stamford's Soldiers," written by Edith W. Wicks and Virginia Olson. .

In addition to the historic value of the house, there are most likely colonial-era artifacts buried in and around the surrounding lot that would be worth finding and preserving, Haynes said.

Haynes said that from looking at the house he felt the underlying original structure appeared intact and that could have been relocated along with its stone chimney. Or the preservation group could have worked to convince the developer to incorporate the old house into the owner's plans for the property.

"This was an 18th-century house and there just aren't that many of them left. We would have done everything we could to have saved this house," Haynes said.

It was one of five that were torn down to make way for a residential development planned by property owner Nagi Osta, the local jeweler whose eponymous business sits next door. The project was approved by city zoning officials in December 2011. Osta is listed as the principal of Procurement LLC, which owns the properties involved in the demolition. Osta did not return calls for comment this week.

Justin Shaw, who manages the project for JCS Construction Group which is in charge of the site work, said the firm was not aware of any letters of protest that could have delayed the demolition.

He also said the building at 808 High Ridge Road was in poor structural condition.

"It was falling down and would have been expensive to save," Shaw said.

Under the city's demolition ordinance, a written objection to the issuing of a demolition permit filed with the City of Stamford Building Inspection Department within 15 days of a published notice is supposed to delay the demolition for 180 days from the time the protest is made. Without a valid objection, a demolition can proceed within 15 days of a published public notice, according to the ordinance.

DeMarco said that Haynes' letter, which was sent via email on Sept. 6, got "lost in the shuffle," and he did not read it until after the house was knocked down on October 21.

"I missed it and it was an oversight," DeMarco said this week. "It was only after it was demolished that I went back and checked and saw he (Haynes) had sent it."

Haynes says he spoke on the phone with DeMarco after filing the objection.

"He told me he didn't receive it and I asked him to check his e-mail," Haynes said. "He didn't actually confirm that he had checked his e-mail. I'm willing to accept his explanation, but I did call him and reminded him of the request before the building was demolished."

DeMarco says he remembers speaking with Haynes, but only recalls him raising concerns about removal of windows and other interior finishes that was related to environmental remediation work approved by state health officials, over which DeMarco said he had no authority to stop.

He also said he would have been less likely to miss Haynes' complaint if the objection had been sent by certified mail rather than electronically.

Haynes said he didn't make a direct effort to contact the property owner or developer or other people associated with the project.

A second objection to the demolition was sent to DeMarco by Stamford resident Flavia LaSalandra, who had traffic concerns about the project that Nagi had gained approval for.. DeMarco said he did receive and act on LaSalandra's objection, which DeMarco forwarded to the City's Department of Legal Affairs.

LaSalandra said she was not told that her request had been disqualified, a notification she feels should have been made before the demolition proceeded.

"I was never told it was rejected," LaSalandra said.

Former city Director of Legal Affairs Joseph Capalbo said he didn't know why LaSalandra's letter was found invalid by city attorneys, but said he believes Haynes' objection should have been heeded and a reprieve granted.

"Apparently there was a second objection that was valid," Capalbo said. "I think it is very unfortunate what happened here and they really need to look to tighten up that ordinance if anyone protests."

On this, all of the parties involved in the matter do agree -- the city ordinance about objections to demolitions needs to be improved. It does not specify how a written objection should be delivered, or whether the person making the objection has to be notified of the outcome. The result is that unless someone happens to notice the demolition ermit request in published legal notices, a building that might have great historic value can easily be torn down.

Although Capalbo said the mistakes that led to the demolition of the house were "innocent enough," the fact that they can happen indicates a need to improve the law. "They need to look at the ordinance so things should be done by certified mail so there are no excuses," he said. "I think it was innocent enough," Capalbo said of DeMarco's handling of the HNPP request. "They need to look at the ordinance so things should be done by certified mail so there are no excuses."

Haynes said the ordinance should trigger an automatic six-month stay of demolition and alterations for buildings that are on the national and state registers of historic places, as well as any structures designated under a new local program being run by the Historic Neighborhood Preservation Program along with other preservationists and the city. Correspondence should be required to be done by certified mail, and the city should notify a person who files an objection of the outcome.

With the rapid pace of change in Stamford, Haynes said protecting historic buildings is critical. It's not about saving every building, but the important ones, like the house belonging to Dogharty.

"We don't leave our history to demolition crews," Haynes said. "They are not the ones who should decide what we keep, preserve, and value."